(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to cotton gins and more particularly to gin rib which is used in a gin stand. The gin rib is a basic part of a basic machine of a cotton gin. The ribs and saws separate the lint from the seed. Cotton ginners have ordinary skill in this art.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Before this invention, cotton gin ribs were well known and almost universally made of cast iron or aluminum. Basically, the rib was cast and then hand ground to form a ginning point where saw teeth pull the fiber from the restrained seed.
Through years of development, the particular shape (as well as the spacing of the ginning point and the like) of the gin rib has been well defined. One of the problems with iron ribs is that they tend to rust during the dormant season. It is necessary for the proper operation of the cotton to move freely over the gin ribs; however, the rust inhibits this smooth movement.
A second problem is at times when the cotton gin is not in operation overnight or for two or three hours, the ribs tend to sweat or accumulate moisture. The moisture on the ribs has an adverse effect when the cotton starts flowing and moving over the ribs again.
Also because of different conditions, often the cotton on the gin rib will form wads of cotton, which tend to increase in size. These wads of cotton greatly increase the friction between themselves and the saw, resulting in the saw blade becoming extremely hot. A hot saw blade loses its temper and therefore loses its shape causing difficulties. Normally in such cases, the saw blade is ruined, either the entire assembly including 80 to 100 saws will require being removed and replaced. Otherwise the saw unit will require being dismantled and the individual saw blades replaced. This is time consuming and expensive during the ginning season.
Before this invention, it was known and suggested to put inserts at the ginning points. An example of an insert is shown in FRANCE U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,083 (Jul. 25, 1989) wherein a tungsten carbide insert was placed in the rib at the ginning point. Also, it had been suggested that plastic materials could be used for the ribs. NAYFA U.S. Pat. No. 3,696,857 (Oct. 3, 1972) is an example of such a development.